Covert Seduction
by Jadepanther
Summary: Matchmaking kid sister love struck wild man won girl(?) Please R&R it's much better than the summary.
1. Prologue: Enlisting Allies

**COVERT SEDUCTION SERIES**

10/17/03

Enlisting Allies

Disclaimer:  I don't own Tarzan or any of its people.  Blast the bad luck.  No money just for fun and to shut one of my Muses up.

       'Man, I wish Jane would quit being so stubborn about this John guy.  He sounds like he's exactly what she needs in her life.  It's enough to make a matchmaking kid sister scream,' was Nikki Porter's train of thought as she let herself in late that night.  She shut the door, locked it and set down her book bag all in one smooth motion before it registered that there was something off in the apartment.  She reached down and grabbed the baseball bat the girls had always kept by the front door and took a really good look around.  There was nothing in her line of sight so she edged forward until she could get a better field of vision.  

'Note to self, been hanging around cop sister way to long.  I'm starting to think like one,' she thought giggling quietly.  After she made sure all the public rooms were clear she headed toward her sister's bedroom.  As she crept closer she heard someone riffling through Jane's dresser.  Fortunately, the open door blocked the view of the other room from the dresser and whoever was in there was so intent on whatever they were looking for she was able to slide into the room without them realizing it.  When she saw who it was she didn't know with she wanted to laugh or yell at him.  Standing there in front of her curiously going through everything in and on her sister's dresser was the guy she had just been speculating about, John Clayton.  She stood there for a few more minutes and then decided she better stop him and get him out of there before Jane got home and had a fit.

"You know……," was as far as she got before she found herself up against the wall staring into the most intense aqua colored eyes she had ever seen.  Then she just as quickly found herself back on her feet and him half way out the window.  

"Oh no, you don't," she muttered as she made a graceless dive and caught an ankle.  His head whipped around and he stared at her with a half amused half exasperated look on his lovely face.

"Ummm, gotcha?" Nikki quipped hopefully giving him a slight smirk.  He smirked in return and raised an eyebrow.

She sighed, "Okay, don't gotcha.  Humor the baby sister who's been curious about you since day one and come in and talk for awhile?  I promise I won't hurt you and I'll protect you from Jane if she gets home before we're done, okay?"  She continued as she gave a slight playful tug on the ankle.  

John tilted his head to one side and studied her for a moment then replied with a soft, "Alright."  He waited until Nikki let go of his ankle and then in the move almost to fast to see he was at her side helping her up.  She led him into the living room, flipping on the light and gently pushed him down onto the couch.

"You stay there and I'll get us something to drink and snack on," she said as she backed into the kitchen.  She dug around in the refrigerator and came up with a decent spread of fruit and bottled water.  She cut up the fruit and arranged it on a plate, using the time to figure out what questions she wanted to ask first.  She finally got her first good look at him on the way back.

'And my sister doesn't want to keep him WHY?!?!  If it'd been me he fixated on we still wouldn't have come up for air,' Nikki thought with an evil grin, and then she shook her head.  'Whoa!  Down girl, not yours remember.'  She sat down on the other end of the couch and set the plate between the two of them.

"So your name's John, right?  I'm Nikki," she started off with as she snagged a piece of apple and made a have-at-it gesture.  John surveyed the assortment of apples, oranges and bananas before going with what he knew and picking up some pieces of banana.  She tried to sit there patiently, really she did, but she was almost vibrating with the need to ask him all the questions running around in her head.

'And from the eye twinkle I just saw he knows it, too the brat,' she half grumbled in her head.  "So, why are you stalking my sister?  It's driving her completely nuts, you know," she asked trying to get ANYTHING out of him.  "And how did you find out where she lived anyway?"

He finally looked up and gave her that little smirk again. "I hunted for her.  I belong with her and her with me," he answered as if it was obvious.

Nikki snorted, "Yeah?  Try convincing her of that.  She prefers her relationships nice, calm and predicable, and while you seem nice, from what I've heard you're neither calm nor predicable."  She leaned back against the arm of the couch and nibbled on a bit of orange for a minute, thinking.  "Do you honestly believe that you guys belong together?"  She asked as an evil plan started to form.

"Yes," he stated firmly, truly believing it. The look in his beautiful eyes turned wary as he watched a truly evil grin cross her face.

"How would you like some help in courting her?" Nikki asked as she mentally finished tweaking The Plan.

 John stared at her suspiciously for a few minutes.  It was the first time anyone didn't think he was a danger to Jane or people in general and here was Jane's sister not only taking him at face value but actually offering to help him win his mate.  "Why would you help me?"

"Because I think you'd be good for her and to her.  Besides I always have wanted to do a classic romance and you can't get much more classic than this," she replied with a shrug and a grin.  "So, want some help or not?"

John sat back and stared off into space for a bit trying to decide if the offer was legit.  Finally he decided he had nothing to lose and nodded, "Alright.  What now?"

"Well, first we need to decide what kind of gifts you're going to give her and where you're going to leave them.  It can't be anything to obvious or she'll freak.  And we need to take it really slow so she doesn't realize what's happening," Nikki answered bouncing in place a little as she got going.  John just smiled at her antics, content to let her do all the planning, as long as it finally won him Jane he didn't care how long it took.


	2. Operation: Seduce Jane Stage 1 Flowers

**OPERATION: SEDUCE JANE**

**STAGE 1**

**FLOWERS**

       Nikki peered are the door to her building's roof, not seeing anybody immediately she checked behind her one more time to make sure her nosy sister hadn't followed her and slipped fully on to the roof, propping the door open so she could go back down when the strategy session was finished.  A week had gone by since she had caught her sister's, Jane, sexy stalker in Jane's bedroom going through her things.  After a shaky start Nikki had convinced him to let her help him try to court Jane.  So now, here she was, on the roof with an odds-n-ends bag, a picnic basket and blanket, waiting for John to show up.

       "Hello," was breathed softly into her ear from behind, causing her to give a little shriek and jump a foot in the air.  Nikki spun around and whacked the culprit hard on the arm, as he stood there smirking.

       "God!  No wonder that drives Jane nuts, you nearly gave me a heart attack," she grouched, absently rubbing her hand.  The smirk just turned into a grin and John picked up the basket and led her to a more remote part of the roof.  After everything was set up and they each had a plate, Nikki reached into the bag and pulled out a notebook and pen.

       "Okay, now that we've got her off balance by you stay out of sight all week lets see how she reacts to flowers.  Where should we leave the first batch and what kind should they be?  I'm thinking something that's not bought at a store or shop and someplace she wouldn't automatically think it was you, like her desk at work," she started off.  She watched him expectantly as he perched there on the blanket, trying to decide if he liked the fried chicken.  She'd tell him Jane made it that night for dinner later.

       "I can get the flowers.  There's a garden on the boarder of my patrol," John assured her as he decided that the chicken was edible and settled down with, what she was learning was, his trademark smirk.

       Nikki shrugged, "Okay.  So how are going to get them on her desk at work with out rousing suspicion?  I can't go in because I almost never visit her at work and I'll be in school, both of which would send up major red flags." 

       "Don't worry.  I'll take of everything.  You plan, I do," John informed her as he finished off the last of the chicken, and the fruit.  "Thank you for the food and all the help," he continued as he turned to leave.

       "Wait.  What if I need you for something?  How do I get ahold of you?" Nikki blurted out quickly.

       "Just come here and call out Tarzan.  I'll hear," he replied with a final glance over his shoulder.  Then he leapt off the edge of the roof, giving poor Nikki another heart attack as she raced to the edge.

       "That guy's going to be the death of both of us yet," she grumbled through a sigh of relief as she saw there was no broken body on the ground.  She went back and packed up the remains of the dinner and headed back down to the apartment for some much needed sleep. 


	3. Stage 1 Part 2

**STAGE 1**

**PART 2**

       After leaving Nikki, Tarzan glided across the rooftops of New York, enjoying the freedom of the night and the new hope of winning his lady love.  Staying away from her this pass week had been one of the hardest things he had ever done and he was grateful the self imposed exile was over.  Another day and he would have said to Hades with the plan and gone back to doing things his way.

       'Now, where was that garden,' he thought, sounding a lot more articulate than he ever let on when he spoke.  His uncle never bothered to find out how much he remembered from the six years before the crash and Jane never asked how long he had been here.  So he turned it into a game, how crazy can he make the people who underestimate him.  Only one person knew he was smarter than he let on, and he was on his way to visit her now.

       'Ah, here it is.  I wonder if she's still awake.'  He mused as he dropped into a lush garden full of irises, mums, climbing roses, and other flowers he hadn't gotten to learn the names of yet.  He wondered through the garden mentally picking out which flowers he wanted to use when he heard the back door open.

       "Tarzan, is that you I hear traipsing through my flowers?  It had better be, cause if it's not I got a Louisville Slugger here who says I'm meaner than you," an aged but surprisingly strong voice called out.

       John smiled and shook his head at her bravado, "Tanta, one of these days someone's going to call you on that bluff and I won't be here and then where will you be?  Hum?" He chided gentle as he came out where she could see him.  He walked up and waited until she had put her husband's old bat down before leaning in, kissing the back of her hand and pulling her into a gentle hug.  The two unlikely friends had met on one of the times he had escaped from his uncle.  

       He had been quietly hiding in a back corner when some punks had decided it would be fun to terrorize the little old lady by ripping up her garden and scaring the daylights out of her.  When she heard them she came out and delivered the same speech, and while they were all busy laughing at her John had crept up and tossed all but the leader back over the wall.  When the punk noticed it was suddenly a lot quieter behind him, he turned to see where his posse was and was knock over the head with the bat for his trouble.  John then picked him up and tossed him back to his friends.  Ever since then whenever John needed a place to breathe and regroup he would come here.  After the third time Tanta decided that ma'am and young man for names was getting old so she asked him what he'd like to be called and he replied Tarzan.  When he returned the query she told him to just call her Tanta.

       John shook the memory away, "So how has my favorite lady been?  Having to beat away suitors with the bat again?" He teased as they settled on some patio chairs.

       Tanta laughed and playfully slapped his arm, "You wicked young charmer you.  You know very well that I'm just biding my time waiting for you.  But enough about me, what in the world are you doin' in my garden this late?  Is that lady of yours giving you trouble again?"  She continued with an undercurrent of concern layered in her voice.  Tanta loved these visits from Tarzan and had come to think of him as a grandson.  He always had fascinating stories to tell, not only of his childhood in the jungle but also about what he had done to annoy his uncle that week and then later what his lady had done that day.

       "Actually, I was caught going through her dresser last week by Nikki, her little sister, and informed that she was going to help me win Jane," John dutifully reported with a real smile.

       "And just why were you going through that girl's dresser, young man?"  She asked archly in a very grandmotherly tone.  John hung his head and mumbled something as he pulled his bare feet up into the chair and wrapped his arms around his knees.  "Speak up, boy.  These ears are old and don't hear so well anymore."

       John gave a pitiful sigh and lifted his head, "I wanted something that I could sleep with that had her scent on it.  I always sleep better when I'm out on her fire escape and can smell her.  Tanta, she smells like home," he explained a hint of tears in his soft voice, hoping she would understand.  Tanta made a sympathetic noise and patted his head, stroking his hair a bit when he leaned into the touch.  They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity though only a few minutes had passed when she decided they had been lost in sad memories long enough.

       "Well, it sounds like the sister's on your side so your half way there.  Now, what are you doing in my garden?" she asked briskly conveniently finding a piece of lint she just had to pick off her robe as John wiped at his eyes.

       "Nikki's come up with a plan she calls Operation: Seduce Jane," he replied with a grin.  "She's hilarious.  You'd love her.  Anyway, the first part of the plan was that I was to stay out of Jane's sight for the week.  We won't go into how hard that was to pull off.  And now we are on the giving of flowers stage and we wanted to do flowers that weren't bought at a store or shop and so I told her I knew of a garden where I could "borrow" some flowers without them being missed," he finished explaining, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

       Tanta playfully glared at him, "Are you saying that my garden needs tending?  Because if you are, I know a strapping young man who's not doing anything except driving his uncle crazy and pining after a girl, who could fix the problem."

       "No, no, no, I like your garden just the way it is.  There are so many wonderful places I can perch in," he quickly reassured her, complete with smoothing hand gestures finally uncurling from the protective ball he had become earlier.

       Tanta grinned at him, "Well, which ones were you thinking of liberating?

       "I was thinking of maybe some pansies and snapdragons.  They're ones I could have found in a park or an abandoned lot.  Then we can work our way up to the irises and roses," he stated with a hopeful lilt of a question towards the end.

       "Well, I don't see why not, long as you don't take too many and you come back, give me reports and let me help.  Now, have you figured out how you're going to give these to her?"  She asked as she got up and bustled into her house to get something appropriate to put them in.

       "I'm going to leave them on her desk at the station," he called as he went picking flowers.  They met back at the chairs and John put them in the old jelly jar Tanta had brought out.

       "And just how are you going to get in there, them these and then get back out again without being seen or worse yet caught?"  She asked with a raised eyebrow.

       "I haven't gotten to that part yet.  I'll figure it out when I get there," he replied with a shrug, not really that worried about it.

       "Uh-uh.  You sit yourself down and old Tanta help you figure it out now," she ordered.  By dawn Tarzan had a workable plan and enough time to do it.  With a final kiss on the cheek in thanks from him and a good luck from her, John vaulted over the wall and out into the gathering light.


	4. Stage 1 Part 3

**STAGE 1**

**PART 3**

       John made his way across the rooftops a little less recklessly than normal so he wouldn't break the first of many gifts to his lady.  It was just an old jelly jar, cleaned out and filled with water and flowers but to him it was almost as precious as his locket, the same locket he had let Jane keep as the first sign of his devotion to her.

       'Although she doesn't see it that way, she probably thinks I don't know she has it or that I don't care,' he grumbled to himself as he stopped atop the station where she worked.  He retraced his steps from when he escaped the first night he'd met Michael.  That had been fun, he escaped the cage they had tried to put him in and got to inform his rival in no uncertain terms that HE was going to pursue and win Jane.  'All in all, that hadn't been bad a night's work,' John thought, his trademark smirk coming into full play as he watched everybody scurry around below him.  While he waited for an opportunity to present itself, he decided to add a little something that would confuse her more than anything else.  He left the jar by his watching point and looked around for something to write on and with.  

He remembered being able to read and write a little bit before the crash but the skills weren't needed in the jungle so they faded into the back of his mind until Tanta asked one night if he could read or write.  When he replied that he didn't know she took it upon herself to re-teach him.  After a few sessions he remembered and the more he practiced the better he got, finally to the point Tanta said his handwriting was more beautiful than most handwritten books she had seen.  Of course, John never seemed to manage to get around to telling his uncle or Jane but in his defense he usually had other things on his mind at those times.  

He thought about all this while still looking for something to write with that worked.  There were all kinds of broken pens and pencils but nothing usable.  He finally decided to use a broken dowel rod and a not quite empty lighter to write with.  After he burned enough on the sharpened end to use it as a makeshift pencil he wrote a quick note on some stationary someone had left.

He looked down just as he finished and noticed a guy being brought in that was putting up enough of a fuss that John could slip down and leave the flowers and note without anyone seeing him.  He crept down the stairs and used the chairs and desks as cover at one point very nearly being seen by Jane herself.  She had turned around and was searching the bullpen with her eyes as if she had sensed something or someone.  Eventually she shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the problem at hand.

'Damn!  That was close, too close.  Her head may still be denying what we are to each but her heart is getting as good as I am at sensing when I'm near,' he thought as a little thrill of panic raced through him.  He quickly left the jar and note in the middle of her desk where she couldn't possibly miss it and the high-tailed back upstairs.  He settled back down at his vantage point and waited, wanting to see her reaction to the gifts.


	5. Stage 1 Part 4

**STAGE 1**

**PART 4**

Jane walked back to her desk, shaking her head at the perp they had finally detained. 'That had to be the most violent way to ask to use the bathroom I have ever seen,' she laughed to herself.  She sat down and was reaching for the file she had been working on earlier when her hand hit something, nearly knocking it over.  With some fast moves she managed to right it before any of the water had spilled.

"What the hell….?" She muttered as she stared at what looked like a jelly jar with pansies and snapdragons beaming up at her.  She picked it up to see if there were any marks or anything to tell her who could have left it and spied a piece of dusty, yellowed stationary on the desk underneath.  She shot a quick look around to make sure no one was watching and then picked it up.  Flowing across it was a beautiful collection of slanted loops and lines that read:

  


_Pansies and snapdragons_

_For sweetness and fire_

_They are the traits_

_I have come to desire_

Jane re-read the passage several times, tracing the words, before she realized what she was doing.  She had just folded the note and put it in her pocket when Sam came up.

"Hey partner.  Where'd the flowers come from?"  He asked slightly suspicion for her sake.

Jane shrugged and lied, "Saw them on the way in and decided they were pretty."

"Yeah, well whatever floats your boat.  Come on, we got crime scene to visit," Sam said off handedly as he gathered their stuff and ushered her out the door.

Up above in the precinct attic Tarzan was having the devil's own time trying to keep from jumping all over the place in joy. 

'She took the note!  She took the note!'  He kept babbling to himself as he got out of there and headed straight to Tanta's to report.  When he got there he saw her working in her garden, her faithful Louisville Slugger resting on the ground beside her within easy reach.  John hopped over the wall and landed right behind.  Next thing he knew he was starring at the business end of the bat where he stopped it an inch from his head.

'Okay, note to self, don't sneak up on Tanta anymore.  She's faster than she looks,' he thought as he grinned sheepishly at her.

"Dang you, boy!  Don' you know I could have taken your pretty head off.  Whatcha doin' sneakin' up on poor old Tanta like that?"  She half yelled as she jerked the bat out of his hand and dropping it on the ground so her hands could be free to perch on her hips.  Tarzan's grin turned from sheepish to pure, delighted mischief as he picked her up in a bear hug and spun them both around.

He sat her back on her feet and sassed, "You aren't old, you're in your prime."

"Don' you sass me, boy.  Now what kind of tom-foolery you been up to that you're this hyper?"  Tanta asked as the young man in front of her nearly vibrated from trying to keep still.

John started bouncing on his toes a little and told her, "She liked them, Tanta!  She liked the flowers and note."  Tanta just shook her head as she watched him lose his battle with his joy and bounced all over the place.  She moved to the patio chairs and sat down as she waited for him to quit swinging on anything that could hold his weight and come back down to earth.

After about ten minutes he dropped down at her feet and put his head in her lap totally exhausted but still deliriously happy and pleased with himself.  Tanta stroked his hair smiling gently when he started a soft purr.  Neither of them had any idea how long they stayed like that before Tanta broke the silence.

"What was that about a note?  I don't remember a note," she commented quietly, startling him out of the light doze he had gone into.

"Hum?  Oh, while I was waiting for an opportunity to get in there I decided to write a note to go with the flowers, to really throw her off the track," John replied sleepily as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes like a little kid.

Tanta smiled at the cute picture he made and thought to herself, 'So this is the big, bad, dangerous savage that everyone's suppose to be so afraid of?  That uncle is a very hateful man to want to destroy this sweet child.'

"What are you going to tell the sister?"  She asked shaking off that train of thought since it always made her madder than a wet hornet.

"I thought I'd do my adorably confused look if she asks," John snarked with an evil grin as he got up and brushed himself off.  Tanta laughed and made a swipe at his head, which he easily ducked as he said, "I'm going to have to go.  I just had to share all that with someone and you're the only one who knows who I really am."  John gave her another hug and a kiss on the cheek, promising to come and talk to her again soon.  With a final wave he hopped over the wall and started tracking Jane to her newest crime scene, ready to protect her however he had to.


	6. Stage 1 part 5

**STAGE 1**

**PART 5**

It had been about two weeks since the first set of flowers and Tarzan was beyond pleased with himself.  He had been randomly leaving Jane flowers from Tanta's garden, sometimes with a note sometimes not, in the most unlikely places, her car, in a coffee mug, her purse.  And then after they were found he would dutifully report back to Tanta about her reaction.

'Of course, I won't tell her about the rose I left on the bathroom sink while Jane was showering yesterday morning,' John thought to himself with a purely male smirk.  He settled himself into a comfortable crouch on Jane's apartment building roof and waited for Nikki to appear.  She had finally decided she wanted answers and had called to him yesterday to set the meeting.  'To bad the shower curtain hadn't been clear,' he continued sighing a little at a lost opportunity.  Before he could really get into that train of thought he heard the roof door creak open and went to see who it was.

  


Nikki scrambled out onto the roof, grumbling to herself the entire time about stupid males and their masochist tendencies.  She had been doing fine with letting John, Tarzan, whatever, do his own thing.  Right up until he left the rose while Jane was in the shower, after she found out about that, at the top of her sister's lungs, she had stormed up here and demanded that Tarzan had better have his sexy, jungle boy backside up here today or SHE"D do some hunting.  She was still stalking around looking for him when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"DON"T DO THAT!!!" Nikki shrieked as she jumped.  She spun around and whacked him on the arm, then glared when he just stared at her with this slightly confused look.

"What did you want?"  John asked with a tilt of his head.

Nikki grumbled under her breath for a bit and the answered, "You were doing great with the flowers until yesterday.  What the hell, made you put that rose in the bathroom while she was in the shower?  I had to put up with ten minutes of her ranting and then another five as she ran out the door because she was late."

'Jane hasn't said anything about the notes, not even to Nikki,' John realized in wonder.  Out loud he asked in a wounded tone, "Jane was mad?"

"More startled and hiding behind anger.  She wasn't expecting her admirer to get in that close.  She's actually loving this though she won't admit it," she replied in a soothing voice, reaching out to lightly stroke an arm.  "It's one reason she hasn't reported it as a stalker.  For all her being sensible she's a die hard romantic at heart."  As Nikki kept talking John tuned her out until he had one ear on what she was saying so he could plan how he was going to work the next drop.  When Nikki finally said good-bye he made the appropriate grunt and waited until she had gone safely back downstairs before heading over to Tanta's.

As he dropped into the garden he heard struggling from inside the house.  He shattered the back door in his rush to get inside, and pulled up short as the scene registered completely in his mind.  There before on the floor was a rather tall, well built man with a bleeding head wound and a bloody bat beside him.  A few feet away was Tanta, also on the ground, clutching her arm and trying to back away from the other man in the room, who had been lining up the killing shot when Tarzan had burst in.  

At the commotion John made the guy's gun hand automatically jerked up and around, firing at the intruder.  John managed to dodge enough that the bullet only grazed his arm and then charged.  The gunman realized he had made a possibly fatal mistake and did the first smart thing since his buddy talked him into the gig, he ran like a bat outta hell.  John paused for a second trying to decide if he should follow the man who had dare hurt his Tanta or help Tanta.  Finally, his more rational side won and he turned to Tanta to see how badly she was hurt.

"Tanta, you okay?"  John asked quietly as he moved over to her to check her arm.

"I'm alright, honey.  Take more than a couple of hooligans to take out this old bat," Tanta reassured him as she struggled to stand up.  He helped her into a chair and then went and secured the guy that was still unconscious.  He then walked over and called it in and waited with Tanta until the sirens were to close to ignore any longer.  He gave her a peck on the cheek and slid out into the garden where he could watch and make sure they treated her alright.  

After everyone had left he went back in to make sure he had his enemy's scent.  Once he was sure he had it, he bolted out of the house and began hunting.  It took most of the rest of the day but Tarzan finally tracked him to a run-down apartment building.  Inside it looked like no one had lived there for years; the walls were stained and spray painted, rats and other things scurried around in the shadows.  Tarzan cautiously crept through the place, identifying and dismissing what his senses were telling him until the only thing left was the scent and sound of his prey.   He finally found his quarry laying semi propped up against a back wall in one of the apartments.  Beside the guy were the gun and a glass pipe of some sort and a lighter.  Tarzan crept up on him and was about to pounce when he realized the guy was passed out.

'Well, hell.  What's the use of beating him to death for hurting Tanta if he's not awake through most of it,' Tarzan grumbled to himself as John finally started to win over the more primal mindset he had fallen into.  John picked the guy up and hauled him outside, leaving him beside the building.  Once there, he went and found a pay phone to call 911.  He waited on the roof of a nearby building until they got there and he noticed that Jane was one of the ones who answered.  Then he realize why the rooftop looked a little too familiar, he was in Jane's territory.  He followed her to the hospital and after a quick survey found out that this was the same hospital that Tanta was in.  He slid in through an opening in the roof and made his way down to her room, stopping at a cart with flower arrangements to liberate a few flowers for her.

When he got he could hear voices within chatting lightly.

"So you caught that other hooligan did ya?  Well, that's good," Tanta was saying as she settled back against the pillows a little better.

"Yes, Ma'am.  Once you're feeling a little better we'll need you to do a line-up but if the gun we found matches up with the bullet they removed from your arm it would just be a formality," Jane explained with a smile, liking the feisty, old lady.  If she had known that the feisty, old lady she was liking was sitting there calmly sizing her up to see if Jane was good enough for her boy then she probably wouldn't have Tanta liked nearing as much.

"Well, young lady, tell me about yourself.  Do you have family, husband, boyfriend?"  Tanta asked deciding since Jane was there and Tarzan couldn't stop her she might as well be a nosy, little, old lady.

Jane gave her a startled look and replied before she really thought about it.  "Well, I have a younger sister, Nikki, who's in college.  I'm not married but I apparently acquired an admirer.  He's been leaving me flowers in allsorts of places.  My desk, car, yesterday he left a rose on the bathroom sink while I was showering," she trailed off as she tried to figure out who it was once again.

Tanta sat back and quietly fumed, 'I'm gonna tan that boy's hide when I get out of here.  Leaving that flower while she was washin', the very idea.'

 Outside the room John tried not to bang his head against the wall as he heard Jane confess that last stunt.  'Tanta's going to kill me.  Maybe I should go enlist Aunt Kathleen's help for awhile,' he thought as he tried to think of ways to get out of this newest trouble.

Back inside, Tanta came out of her fume and decided to be nosy some more.  "You have any idea who the admirer might be?"  She asked just to see if Jane was even close in her suspicions.

"I thought it might be this one guy I met a while back but some of the flowers had these adorable poems with them and I don't think he can write," Jane said still lost in thought.

Tanta tilted her head, "What do you mean you don't think he can write?  Was he raised in a jungle or something?"

Jane gave a mysterious little smirk and replied under her breath, "You have no idea."  A little louder she said, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to go.  Those reports won't write themselves.  You take care of yourself and get plenty of rest, alright?  And next time leave the bad guy catching to us, huh?"

"I'll try, honey, I'll try.  You be careful out there you hear?"  Tanta quipped as Jane leaned down and gave the sweet old lady a hug.  With a final wave Jane was out the door.

Meanwhile out in the hall, John couldn't decide if he wanted to jump for joy because Jane thought his notes were adorable or yell at Tanta for the jungle crack.  When he heard Jane coming out of the room he quickly ducked into another one until he was sure she as gone, after that he slipped into Tanta's room.

"I was wondering when you'd come by to see me," she greeted with a bright smile as spied the flowers in his hand.  John went and found a cup that looked like it might hold and took care of them, placing them on the bedside table.

"Are you truly alright, Tanta?  When I saw what was happening I just went primal and just barely managed to check myself when he ran," John asked softly as he laid his head on the bed near her hand.

Tanta took the hint and started stroking his hair in soothing reassurance, "Yes.  I'm fine.  But what about you, is that blood I see on that arm?"

John looked down at the arm in question and gave a small snort, "I didn't even realize I was hit.  It's just a graze, nothing to worry about," he reassured in turn.  Tanta nudged him until he went and forged for supplies to clean it out.  After he was done, he went back only to find Tanta asleep.  He crept in and pulled the blanket up a little higher and kissed her on the cheek.

As he made his way back out the same way he came in, he spied another flower arrangement cart and borrowed a few daises from it.  He waited outside Jane's apartment until she went to sleep and then very careful crept in and left the daises where she see them first thing in the morning and carefully brushed a feather-light kiss across her lips in thanks for Tanta.  After that he slid back out of the room and into the night.

A.N.  That's all I have for now.  Review and tell me what you think.


	7. Stage 2 Stuffed Animals

STAGE 2

STUFFED ANIMALS

It had been about a month since Tanta was shot and she had bounced back like nothing had happened.  She would always have a scar but she treated it like a souvenir from some grant adventure.  One good thing that came out of that whole mess was the new friend she had made; Jane came over at least once every other day to check on her and to chat with her.  Sometimes this would cause a slight panic as Jane would show up when Tarzan was there but with the extensive gardens it wasn't that hard to hide him.  

Tanta loved the stories Jane would tell her about one scrape or another Tarzan would get into while protecting her.  Of course, Jane never used his name, not even the dreaded John, but Tanta recognized who it was just the same.  Especially, since she usually had just heard the same story from Tarzan's side.  

Tanta chuckled to herself yet again as she compared the two latest stories.  Jane had come by yesterday complaining that Tarzan had stuck his handsome nose in where it wasn't wanted, again, and then spent the rest of the visit lamenting the fact that she was a New York City Detective, duly trained, and not some helpless damsel in distress that constantly needed rescuing.  And did he have to be so blasted sexy, with the smirk and the sniffing and stuff.  Tanta had just sat there making sympathetic noises and nodding sagely in the appropriate spots while trying not to offend the young lady by cackling like a demented loon.  

Later that same night Tarzan appeared right on time to give Tanta his version of the tale; he, of course, bemoaning the fact that if Jane would just quit putting herself in such dangerous situations he could quit having heart attacks.  Tanta gently suggested that Jane could take care of herself since she was a cop and not some helpless damsel, which earned her a who's-side-are-you-on-anyway glare and an explanation that since Jane was his, it was his rightful duty to protect her, whether Jane liked it or not.  That last bit earned HIM a whap upside the head and a lecture on the proper attitude one has around a 21st century lady.

Now Tanta was settling into her chair on the patio to wait for Tarzan and news on his newest romantic endeavor, as they hadn't had that much time to really talk about it.  'And here he comes.  Right on time,' she thought to herself as she noted the rustling he deliberately made so he wouldn't startle her.

"Hello, Tanta.  How are you feeling tonight?"  Tarzan greeted as her leaned down to give her a gentle hug and kiss on the cheek.  He settled down at her feet a little gingerly and laid his head on her knee.

"What's happened now, child?  Has she finally figured out you're the one leaving her the flowers and gave you an earful you didn't want?"  Tanta asked softly as she stroked his hair, it always seemed to comfort him when she did it.

John settled in a little more and sighed.  "No.  At least, I don't think she's figured it out.  She just doesn't seem to be as delighted as she was when I first started."

"Well, maybe it's time to do a grand finale on the flowers and switch to something else?"  She suggested, smiling a bit at how snuggly he was tonight.

"Okay.  But how and what?"  He replied with a bit more life in his voice as he brought his head up to look at her properly.

"Let me tell you about a Valentine's Day present my sweet Remy left for me one year…." Tanta started as she brought their heads together in a conspirator's huddle.

The next day John slipped into the apartment through Jane's window and headed straight to the dining/living room looking for Nikki.  He found her working diligently on a report her head bopping to the music blasting from her headphones.  John gave into an evil impulse and silently glided up just out of her line of sight and tapped his hand on the table just under her nose.  He let a grin of pure mischief slide across his lips as she jumped sky high and gave a shriek that would have woken the dead. He quickly changed it to his most innocently befuddled look as she spun around to glare at him.

"Damnit, John!!!  How many times have I told you not to do that?" Nikki abolished barely remembering to lower her voice.

John added a bit on contriteness to his expression and replied, "I'm sorry.  I made noise."

She sighed, "It's alright.  I probably shouldn't have had the music playing so loud.  So, what's up?"  She asked as she picked up the chair she had knocked over and pulled out the other one so they could sit.

"What kind of animals does Jane like?" John asked abruptly.

"What kind of….?  Well, she likes the big cats, like lions, panthers, and tigers.  She also likes dolphins and seals and elephants.  Oh, and hummingbirds.  Why?"  Nikki informed him thoroughly confused.  Just as John was about to answer they both heard Jane's key scrape in the lock and looked to the door, by the time Nikki turned back John was long gone.

Later that night after Jane and Nikki had come back from a movie they had decided to see and saying good night to each other, Jane turned on her bedroom light and gasped.  There, in the middle of her bed, were hundreds of rose and orchid petals spelling out the words 'Sleep Sweet'.  As she came closer her eyes moved to the head of the bed and she gave a slightly smaller gasp because lying regally on her pillows was a beautifully made large, stuffed bangle tiger.  Jane reached out and picked him, as she gave him a hug she noticed a note had been under one paw.  She shifted the tiger to one arm, which was a bit tricky, and picked up the note and read:

_His name is Rajah.  May he guard your dreams well._

Jane looked at the tiger and said softly, "So you're Rajah, uh?  Well, you can sleep with me as long as you don't try to steal the covers or snore."  With that she put him back down on the pillows; careful scooped all the petals into a bag to do something with them the next day, finished getting ready for bed and, wrapping her arms around her newest protector, fell into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
